Wednesday, December 31, 2014

I CHOOSE ONE WORD FOR 2015

The time has come again, where we usher out one year and welcome another. For some of us, we are not very sad to see the year come to a close for we experienced unexpected loss, grief or sickness, suffering agony like we've never known before. We close the year with battle scars, emotional and physical, and we pray that the new year brings healing and peace amidst our ongoing pain. For others of us, we may have had the best year of our lives, accomplished major goals, experienced successes beyond our wildest imaginations and saw some of our dreams come to fruition. Then again, some of us may have simply seen a year pass, no major losses or victories, no particular accomplishments, successes or major strides, we just find ourselves right where we were 365 days ago. No matter our experiences or situation, another year has come and gone. Time marches on regardless of what we chose to do with it or how life may have thrown us a curve ball and three strikes we're out or if we hit it out of the park and gained a home run. 2014 ends at 11:59pm today and 2015 arrives tomorrow at 12:00am.

What have you done to prepare for that moment? Have you thought about how you want 2015 to be different, better, more productive? Granted, none of us knows what the new day or new year will bring, that is out of our control, but for those things we CAN control, what have we done to prepare emotionally, mentally or spiritually for 2015 to be different?

Most of us start with New Year's resolutions, you know, those goals we set for ourselves.....that we usually break before we embark on January 2nd. I've made and broken enough New Year's resolutions to last me a LIFETIME and the only resolution I have made this year is not to have ANY! Instead, I have chosen a different path. I have chosen ONE WORD. One word that sums up how I want to live in 2015. One word that encompasses what I want to pursue, possess and be passionate about for the next 365 days. One Word that will change my days, my weeks, my life and help me find myself in a better place on December 31st, 2015. One word that will propel me into the new year with such force that I will look back on 2015 only to see how far I've come! (For more information on #OneWord365, read this blog post, by Claire De Boer, one of my favorite bloggers, on her blog The Gift of Writing, entitled "Have You Chosen Your One Word for 2015?" ) It's never to late to discover your One Word and to start the process of living it.

For me personally, I am aware of some of the changes I can expect to experience in the coming new year. For that reason, I chose a word that kept coming up for me when I was thinking about what I wanted to accomplish in the next 365 days. I know this will be a year in which I can't cower, or hide behind my fears and doubt, but I must face the changes head on with confidence and boldness. For those of you who know me, this is not my normal approach at life, but I know this year will have to be different. Knowing this, I knew my One Word had to reflect this and I would need a BIG word (big in the sense that it must encompass all that I would need to face in the coming year).

Therefore, my One Word for 2015 is:

Empower, to be enabled, to provide with the means or opportunity, to make possible, to permit

Choose one word to focus on, meditate on, pray about, draw upon, and pursue. Post it in different places so you will see it everyday. (I have mine as the lock screen for my phone and wallpaper for my laptop!) Take a few minutes every day to journal about becoming, experiencing and living your One Word. Tweet about it, and post on Facebook about it using #OneWord365. Join the OneWord365 community on Twitter, and Facebook and find your "Tribe" (others who have also chosen your word for the year). It must become something that stays to the forefront of your mind for it to really make a difference. Take the time to read other inspiring stories of how choosing One Word has changed others' lives, by searching for #oneword365 on the OneWord365 community,Twitter, and Facebook. One Word is a journey, it can help you find your way if you're adrift, rediscover the person you may have lost sight of over time, reclaim your purpose, re-ignite your passion, or restore your motivation.

Yes, a new year is a fresh start, a new beginning, a chance to start anew, but don't lose sight of the fact that EVERY DAY is a gift, a blessing and an opportunity for change and growth. Choose your One Word for the year but make it an every day experience!

I am an aspiring writer, mother, daughter & friend. I am learning how to trust and enjoy the journey. I struggle, I succeed, I fail, I laugh, I cry and some days I doubt. In other words, I'm just like you.
I want to make an positive impact on the lives of those around me. I try to learn from my mistakes, laugh at my failures, then grow from them. I am always looking to learn something from everyone I meet, because I believe every one has something to offer to someone else and can make a positive impact if they so choose. Most of all, I just want to embrace my becoming moments.